Does intercessory prayer twist God's arm?

[Seagirt]

I have always thought that Intercessory Prayer seems to be in conflict with the idea that God is Unchanging. That is: For instance… if I pray to God directly that my brother be healed of an illness, and he is not healed. Then later, I invoke the intercessory prayer of St. Gerard ( for example), and then there is a change… What Happened. ? Did we twist the arm of God. ? God was not going to heal, then He heard the sales pitch of St. Gerard, and God changed His Mind. ? I thought God was Unchanging. Explain please. Thank you.

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Hi,

Basically, intercessory prayer is petitionary prayer; prayer that asks something of God. No one changes God’s mind—not you, not me, not Saint Gerard or any other people we may ask to intercede for us. Yet Jesus commanded us to ask God for what we need. So how does it work?

God has determined that He will grant us the healing of our sore toe if we or some one else asks Him in prayer—even before the prayer is offered. He knows the whole territory before hand. He doesn’t change, but we do. The prayer of petition makes us more attentive to Him and actually requires some humility from us. This is VERY good for us! So we are reminded again that God is God—and not just a bigger version of us. His ways are definitely not our ways.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.